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Torsten BellThe Guardian |
Parents shape our lives. There’s the love or its absence – and the genetics. On the financial side, academics focus on intergenerational income...
Santa has a great reputation. Generous, jolly, snazzily dressed. But he’s obviously a terrible employer. The elves are entirely unpaid for their...
Most people love Christmas, but attitudes towards politics in recent years? Frustrated, more than festive. Understanding why is crucial to...
We like scientific breakthroughs. Humanity ultimately relies on them. So it matters if we’re missing out on discoveries. But compelling evidence...
What do we want? More tax inspectors. When do we want them? Ideally a few years back, but now will do. Maybe not the most exciting protest song,...
On 22 February 2019, I spoke at a conference in memory of a good friend, Tessa Jowell. The event was about her legacy, marking 20 years since the...
Things have not being going well for low- and middle-income Britain: wages flatlining, public services crumbling and, as a result, faith in...
Too many people go to university is a popular argument. I disagree. Insofar as our economy does not create enough highly skilled jobs for the...
Names matter. I’ve written a whole book about our country being called Great Britain at a time when things haven’t been going great. And being...
First, the good news. We middle-aged Brits are no longer condemned to the conversation- and soul-destroying monomania of debating house prices....
Single-sex teams are something for the football pitch, not the workplace. It’s not the 1950s. Many studies show the benefits of mixed teams: among...
I was in a meeting recently between MPs and BBC execs. The former wanted to talk about one thing: getting more of the BBC’s jobs and spending out...
“Here’s how to retire early,” promise TikTok’s financial influencers. But the life hacks offered never cover the most important advice: pick...
Earlier this month, an unusual prize ceremony got under way. Five Nobel laureates gathered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not to...
Regents, stand-ins for monarchs who are too young or incapacitated, feature prominently in the history books. Scotland managed six regents for the...
If you want to persuade someone, start by listening to them. We’ve all heard that, and it sounds right. But it’s not true, concludes interesting...
Persistence studies are all the rage in economics – using clever maths to show that events in the distant past drive political or economic outcomes...
We shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Nor judge a research paper by its title. “Discussion paper No.5: Public investment and potential...
Economists are pro-competition, warning against concentrated markets – dominated by a few large firms that face too little pressure to keep prices...
Detectorists is great TV. Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook wander Suffolk’s fields, making the case for all of us to take up metal detecting as they...
It has been a grim week. The reality that even a small minority is prepared to engage in violence, bringing racist language and acts to our...
One of the reasons I support building more homes is it will help bring down housing costs if we keep at it. Government research finds a 1% increase...